Prayer Request by Paul for his visit to Rome

Well, good morning. Well, we're going to finish Chapter 15 today. We're getting close to finishing up Romans here. So I'm not going to talk about it either. Mike actually has the last three messages. So I'm going to let him talk about the future. So I'll just talk about today.

Actually, this is a pretty cool section. So actually, I'm going to go straight here. So actually I titled this Paul's Prayer Request for His Visit to Rome. You know what's amazing about this is you start looking at this so you think, you know, Paul's prayers ought to be answered, right? And they are. They are. But it's amazing how God answers his prayer. It is truly amazing.

And actually it should be, and hopefully it's a lesson to us that we have a certain idea how we want God to answer our prayers. Lord, this is how you're going to have to do it, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then it turns out, it doesn't turn out that way. So we shouldn't think, actually we shouldn't think we failed. I didn't pray hard enough. I didn't do this, I didn't do that. I don't think we should think that way. And Paul's a perfect example. He was convinced he would go to Rome, and he got to Rome, but not the way he thought he was going to be there.

Okay, so let's get into it here. So this is the outline. Both Mike and I have used Macaulay. So I have the expanded Macaulay version. Okay, so we start off back in verse 14 about Paul's persuasion, being persuaded. We talked about his ministry in 15 through 21. Then we talked about his desires. We've been doing that for quite a while. Then finally, this is Paul's prayer request. This will finish out chapter 15. Actually, the very last verse is actually a doxology or a benediction. And then we're going to have Paul's greetings. And there's actually some cool stuff in here. And Mike gets to do all this.

All these people, especially the first person mentioned is a lady. She's a deaconess. And apparently she's the one that took Paul's letter to Rome. Pretty amazing. And a lot of that is gleaned from the verb tense and her title and this stuff. And she was apparently a pretty influential lady. Plus, I think, to my count, in those first 16 verses or so, maybe first 24 there at least, a third of them are ladies. Probably one of the greatest. And actually it's ladies and also we see households.

I'm getting ahead to the next chapter. But anyway, Michael will give you all that good stuff next week. And then there's a section of warnings and more greetings. Then finally, probably the longest doxology, I think, in Scripture, three verses. So pretty cool stuff. Okay, so let's get into today. So today's verses, let me just read them again. If you look carefully, look at punctuation in Scripture. God's given us His Word. He's given it in books, in sentences, in paragraphs, in subject, in verbs, in nouns, in all the things we don't like that we didn't learn.

I didn't learn. I was a terrible student of grammar. Bonnie, she was an excellent student of grammar. She says, Roger, you didn't learn phonics? I said, phonics what? What are you talking about? I had to memorize everything, which maybe served me well, maybe didn't, I don't know.

Anyway, look at 30 through 32 as one sentence. So you're going to get some more bubbles, some more charts here. You're all waiting for those, you can't wait. And then the last one is the doxology. So let me just read it. Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit to strive together with me, Paul, in your prayers to God for me. So he's asking, it's a prayer request, right? So now he's going to give his prayer request. That I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints, another purpose, so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find refreshing rest in your company and that's the part that just really and the last part is now may the God of peace be with you all a man but verse 32 is just you say wow that's what that was Paul's goal but boy he didn't refreshing company in jail if I told you I'm gonna send you to Hawaii for refreshing company with Hawaiians and you wound up in jail in Hawaii would you think that was a good deal that's what happened to Paul and Paul did incredible things while he was in jail.

Okay, enough of that. Let's go, let's start here. Okay, so we're going to start, we're going to have the overview of the verse one. This is the first third of the verse, which has actually the main subject and verb. So we start off, now brethren in Rome, he's speaking to the Roman believers.

He says, I urge you, and he says, I urge you to strive together with me. So urge is a verb. I, Paul, urge you. And the direct object, there's actually two direct objects if you're going to be a Greek geek here. To strive is the second one, to strive together with me. And this is very reminiscent of what we saw back in chapter 1, chapter 1, chapter 12, verse 1. I urge you to present your bodies. Then we have some other places where Paul uses it, I urge you to walk worthy. In Corinthians, I urge you to confirm your love to him.

It's actually a fellow believer, not the Lord. You have to look in context. Actually, while he was reviewing, he says, Roger, you forgot a capital H. I said, well, I looked at it. No, it's actually another believer, not the Lord. So the idea is here you have this word urge. We're going to dive into that in a more in-depth way, which you've done before, be repeated a bit, but I think you'll like it. So let's look at them. So there's two conditions. Pretty cool stuff.

I urge you by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit. So it conditions his urging, his encouragement to strive with him based upon the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of the Spirit. We'll look at that later. Then he says, in your prayers to God for me, Paul. So a pretty simple setup. So what we're going to find is the rest of the two verses will hang off this idea to strive together. His purposes will flow out of that striving. This is what we're to pray about, but he conditions it on the Lord Jesus Christ, by the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of the Spirit.

And the prayers, you're praying with me. You're my prayer warrior with me. And like Jim mentioned, this isn't just a casual prayer. In fact, I think many commentators point out this is Paul's most fervent Requests for prayer in all of his writings he asked more fervently in this case and he doesn't in their place in his 13 epistles So pretty pretty important. Okay.

So now we'll look down go down a level here So let's start off with urge now brethren in Rome. I I urge parakaleo, some of the words I can pronounce, some, not all, parakaleo, and that's because I listen to my recording on my computer, so don't think I'm too smart, but anyway, parakaleo, to call upon someone to do something. It could be translated exhort or even beg, to call to one's side. And it's been said of this word, it lies, this word urge or parakaleo lies between a command and beseeching.

And we're gonna see how that works out in a second here. So it's somewhere, he's not commanding them to pray with him, and he's not necessarily beseeching them, he's somewhere in between. And it's really, it's one of the most tender expressions in the Bible. It's like you're saying to your good friend, your best friend, Please pray for me. I really need this. And you're doing it as a friend.

That's what Paul's communicating here to these Roman believers. So one of the key verses that kind of distinguishes this is in Philemon, where this parakleto is used. So here's where he kind of contrasts an order versus an appeal. So, Philemon 1a says, Therefore, though I have enough confidence, this is Paul speaking, though I have enough confidence in Christ to order you, so Paul could order them to do what is proper, yet for love's sake I'd rather appeal to you, parakaleo to you, to do this.

He's coming at them from a, we're fellow believers in the Lord, I'm doing this, stand with me in this prayer, be with me, because it's important. He said, my life is involved in here, my life is on the line, I need your prayers. So it's encouraging believer to do something, and it's present tense, continuous action. He says, I'm continually asked to do this, it's not just a one time thing, continually do this.

Okay, so then it's by dia, is the Greek, dia, by our Lord Jesus. So dia in this case, according to Denny, could mean in the sense of it's an intermediate agency, it could be through. So you could translate this way. So it's through, it's like if I ask Courtney to pray for me, I don't want Courtney to pray for me. because he's my friend.

I want him to pray for me because Christ's life lives in him. And that's what Paul's saying, through Christ's life in the believer. So he asks them not because they're his friends, but because Christ lives in them, and that makes a difference. He's asking Christ to be working through them as they pray. And he kind of asks it in two ways. First, it's through our Lord Jesus Christ. Then second, DIA, kind of the same idea, intermediate agency. So now he's going to ask in the power of the spirit. Same kind of idea.

It's the Spirit's love working in these believers that Paul's appealing to. He says, I don't want you to pray. You may be the best friends I've ever had in my life, but I want you to pray because the Lord is working in you. I want His power. I want to see the Spirit working in your life. And so we see that in a very familiar passage in Galatians.

I have a little, we missed there, the I shouldn't be there, but anyway, Galatians 2.22. So he's asking them, the divine love is produced by the Holy Spirit in the hearts of the saints.

And we know that in Galatians 5.22, this is the first part of it. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, gentleness. There's nine things mentioned. And so love is the first one mentioned. I want the Holy Spirit's love. That's what I'm asking to be present in your prayers. I want to see Christ's life present in your prayers and the Holy Spirit's life in your prayers. Pretty amazing things. He's very specific. He's not casual about how he wants them to pray. He specifically tells them how to pray. Okay, so let's go on to the next part. So here's this striving.

It's a pretty cool word. And actually, soon is soon, which is together in the Greek. And this is a form of agonizing, would be in English, is to strive, contend for victory. And it's contend along with, it's kind of the idea in the Roman games, they had these, the Roman games, there'd be agonizo, to agonize with someone.

So he's asking very strongly for their prayer support. Paul asked the Roman saints to contend or strive with him in their prayers. That's from Wiest. So just looking at this, I urge you is receiving the action to strive. So this urging is being modified, but to strive together with me. And it's actually an event. Every prayer is an event, if you will. He wants them to do it continuously, but every prayer is a single prayer, so to speak, or a single event. In your prayers to God, on behalf of me, He realizes that in view of the spiritual forces against him and his ministry, he needs this energetic prayer, as Constable says. Okay, so that's verse 1. So it knows this comma, capital letter, right? Have a comma, that have a comma, go to second part. Okay, so the next part of it, I start with the main idea from verse one, verse 30. I urge you to strive together with me.

And here's the first purpose, first of two purposes, that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my services for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints. So that's his first prayer request. He wants to be rescued. So what does he need to be rescued? And he's disobedient in Judea.

We're going to look at all that. For my service in Jerusalem, they proved to be acceptable. Kind of obscure when you first look at it and the first time you read it. That's why I encourage you to read it and read it. Get other translations. Keep reading it.

At first you say, rescued? What's about rescued? Is he in danger at the moment? What's going on here? So we'll dive into that now. OK. So a little note is that that is this word, hina, which introduces a purpose clause typically in the original language. I may be rescued. So the idea is to be preserved, to be delivered. And it's pretty much synonymous to be saved, sozo in the Greek. So sozo and this word are pretty close together.

Okay, so in his passive voice, so he's trusting God, he's asking in his prayer, he's asking to pray with me, and he's trusting God is going to take care of it. But what's interesting, because it's subjunctive, subjunctive he says maybe it will happen, maybe it will not. So God's will is involved in this, maybe it won't be God's will to rescue him. Maybe it won't be. And so he, by the verb tense here, it kind of gives us this, God is going to do it, But God may do it or He may not do it, depending upon His will. It's up to God's will for this to happen.

From those who are disobedient in Judea. So who's Paul referring to here? So we're going to have a chart on that in just a second. So there's these disobedient in Judea. Who are they? There's going to be two categories we're going to see. But first, are disobedient? It's kind of an interesting word.

It's the idea that You're not easily persuaded to refuse to be persuaded, to refuse to believe. You might say, I have people I know that are on this way. They're impossible to talk. You tell them, you talk with them, talk with them, you don't make any progress it seems like.

And the Jews were the prime candidate for this. They were pretty stubborn. In fact, some of the comments here will talk about that. So it comes from this word to persuade. So it makes it that they're not to be persuaded. They're non-persuadable, you could say. And actually that's what the noun form is, non-persuadable. We says it describes Israel, stiff-necked, obstinate. They would not be persuaded.

Very few Jewish people came to the Lord when He was here the first time. And very few have come today, unfortunately, too. So He's saying the disobedient in Judea. So let's talk about that for a second. Who are the disobedient in Judea? So one group, this is from, I think, Wiester Constable, I'm not sure, are the unbelieving Jews.

And the verse for that is in Acts 2.29. You know, Acts is a great section for this because Acts shows us what actually happened. Paul prayed here. in his letters, and he prayed this long before this ever took place, but Acts gives us a whole picture of what actually happened.

So in Acts 2.29, Paul was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews, and they were attempting to put him to death. So these are unbelieving Jews, they did not like what Paul said, they wanted to kill him. And this wasn't one of many, many times they tried to do that.

And the second group of people, second group called the disobedient New Judeo are the Jewish Christians. So you think that Christians would be on the same page with you, right? But they were not. They doubted, and what Galatians were studying in Sunday school speaks to that, the fact that they wanted to hang on to the law. So they weren't, when Paul came along and He told them what the law was there for. They didn't like that. They wanted to hang on to the law. So they were disobedient in Judea.

So here's a couple of verses that kind of talk to how the Lord rescued Paul, both from Timothy, 2 Timothy 3.11. Persecution and suffering such as happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecution I endured and then out of them the Lord out of them all the Lord rescued me and then verse 417 but the Lord stood with me and strengthened me so that that through me their proclamation might be fully accomplished that all the Gentiles might hear and I was rescued out the lion's mouth so Paul was in in real jeopardy from these people okay so last part of this verse is At first this may be a little hard to understand. My service for Jerusalem. So what was Paul's service for Jerusalem? Actually the word service is more like, it's a sense of providing relief. And it actually only occurs two places.

It's spoken of as contributions. It could be monetary contributions. and spoken of in Romans, our verse today, but also in Acts. And this is a Weiss translation. And the disciples determined each one of them to send the things that would minister to the needs. That's kind of a long, a lot of words for one short word, things which would minister their needs. These services or these contributions or these alms on behalf of the brethren who resided in Judea.

So Paul was He had money and stuff to deliver to the saints in Jerusalem, but he was afraid, and we'll get to that in a second here, it may prove to be acceptable to the saints. So it may become well-pleasing to the saints. So the saints in Jerusalem were mostly Jewish, right? That's where all Christians were initially Jewish, right? Until Paul went to the Gentiles. So Paul wants the Jewish Christians to receive a monetary gift from their Gentile brethren. So think about this.

Here at Holly Hills, our policy, Mike and I, we started this many years ago, we don't take an offering. We never take an offering within the, there's a box at the back you can offer. And one of the reasons, not the only reason, is that we don't really want people that aren't believers contributing to Holly Hills. We just don't want somebody to walk off the street and say, here's some money, you know.

We want them to know who they are. We want to know that they're They know the Lord and they're giving because the Lord prompted them. Well, the Jews actually had not a bad motive. They didn't want, they were so particular, they wanted people that only agreed with them keeping the law to be giving to them. Sort of like us, we want like-minded. So the Jews wanted like-minded people and we want like-minded people. Not a bad motive, but Paul was concerned they wouldn't accept his money.

Pretty interesting thought here. Okay, let's carry on. So third part of this, I urge you to strive with me together. And this is the second of the two. Enjoy having come to you. So Paul's looking, Paul's assuming this is going to happen. Enjoying having come to you through the will of God, I may rest with you. So we're going to look at this, and this verse kind of just really, we're going to look at this and then we're going to look at what really happened. This is Paul's prayer, then we're going to look at what really happened to him.

You know, it would be neat if you could do that. You pray, and then the Lord would show it. Maybe you shouldn't do that. He'd show you, say, oh no, that's what's going to happen? It's probably a great blessing he doesn't do that, right? Because we'd be scared to death probably. So anyway, so this is what he prayed for. He expected joy.

And you know, I read J. Verne McGee. And J. Verne McGee, on this verse, he thought every single part of this verse was true. Even though he winds up in jail, But he writes, look at the, he writes the prison epistles in jail. Colossians, Ephesians, oh my, incredible epistles.

So, and he, to us, that's joy? I, you know, it is joy, anyway. Was he in the will of God? I think he was. So let's carry on here. Okay. That in joy having come to you, so another purpose clause is introduced here. Joy is kera, a form of keres, or grace. Joy, rejoicing, gladness. So Paul looks forward to a time of joy with believers in Rome. That was his goal. I want to have joy with them. And the verb tense is interesting. Having come, in his mind, it's already a done deal. And it was a done deal. He's going to Rome. Is that going to be joyous? It doesn't seem joyous to me. Echo me, to come, it signifies the act rather than the arrival.

Eris tense, it's going to happen according to God's will. to you believers in Rome. So the Apostle Paul probably also had in mind the blessings that would come to him, come to the Romans through his ministry among them. He did not know at this time that he would arrive in chains. Remember Romans is written way before all the things play out, way before. Okay, so let's carry on here. Last part, through the will of God I may rest with you. through the will of God.

He started Romans this way, right? In the very part of Romans, on your handout, I have 9 and 10 in there. So Paul's prayer at the beginning of Romans was, if perhaps, at last, by the will of God, I may succeed in coming to you in Rome. So that was his goal, that was his prayer. And he wanted to rest, be refreshed with them, to be refreshed with someone in his company. So Paul's goal He would arrive in Rome by God's will and be refreshed in their company. alas, how different things turned out.

It's interesting, Bonnie and I spent a long time, we said all these points, and he took a certain tack, and I didn't realize it at first, and then Bonnie said, you know, he's actually putting his opinion into it, so I kind of redid it and took his opinion out, tried to put, just the facts, ma'am, just give me the facts, right? Remember, the detective, I've forgotten, who was it, a guy in California, what's that?

OK. Dragnet. Thank you. Thank you. Just give me the facts, man. You have to be old. Just give me the facts, man. I don't want to hear your opinions. Just give me the facts. We could use that today, right? Just give me the facts. I'm thinking about your opinion. OK.

So the facts are, OK, he was ordered Paul was ordered, he said, don't go to Jerusalem. Remember he had this, he fell into a trance, if you look in Acts 22.18. Make haste, get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony. So he's warned, don't go to Jerusalem. Did Paul listen? He didn't listen to this. He said, well, Didn't he not listen to God? Paul chose not to.

He went to Jerusalem. But when he went to Jerusalem, good things didn't happen. Not from his perspective. He entered Jerusalem. He was mobbed by the Jews. The Romans rescued him, right, later. And charges were made against him. He was sent to Roman chains. So was Paul out of God's will doing this? There's actually a lot of debate about that. So I just try to give the facts. This is the facts.

But the wonderful thing is, when Paul arrived in Rome in chains, he was placed in prison. He was in prison more than one, you know, different prisons, different time, different things. But this first imprisonment, he wrote Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. Just think about that. What if he just going around they had tea and coffee and shared fellowship, right? What if he hadn't done? Look at those books he wouldn't have gotten. Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians. My goodness.

So this was God's will for him to go there in chains and so his idea about this refreshing fellowship with fellow believers turned out not to be that way at all. Pretty amazing. So this is what happened. That was his prayer and this is what happened. Okay, so then he has the benediction.

Now may the God of peace be with you all. Amen. So God is the source of peace and the giver of peace. So I'm just going to put, I have all these verses, I could try to read all these, but let me just kind of give you the highlights. This is kind of ending parts of every book here, not ending, but just the same phrase that's repeated over and over again.

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet and so on. Then we come down to the God of love and peace be with you. The God of peace will be with you. And then down in Thessalonians we have, now may the God of peace himself sanctify you. And then in the last one, Thessalonians, now may the Lord of peace.

So they all have very similar endings to a lot of his writings, similar ideas. He wants the God of peace. Interesting is that he realized the contention, this craziness going on around him. His last words in 15 were, the God of peace be with you. OK, so the final thoughts are here. So Newell just basically, I had this little final thought. So he took basically these three, four verses, and he just put them in, kind of added his words to it here.

So he starts off, Paul therefore, in verses 30 to 33, beseeches or urge that by our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and by the love wrought in the believer by the Holy Spirit, that they strive together, or agonize in the Greek, agonizo, the word used to contest with wrestling in the Greek games, together with Paul in prayer for God for these things.

And then the prayer requests come, for the Jews being entrenched in opposition. You can kind of see how he takes those words, we kind of got the definition, entrenched, they would not move, right? They were steadfast in their opposition. the gospel. Paul asked the Christians at Rome to pray that he may be delivered from them, from them that are disobedient in Judea.

Again, he asked the prayers, the ministration, that's the gifts that we're going to give to him. for jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints and then lastly then they may come here here is this was his desire may become to the roman christians enjoy through the will of god and together with them and refreshment so interesting we have paul's prayer request we have a really happened and i i think we have to believe that god uh... succeeded he his will for paul's life paul arrived in rome and did what god god decided to do and that's the plan for our lives we may think that We have failed in some areas, but if we have trusted the Lord and walk with Him in fellowship, I think that we trust that He accomplished through our lives what He wanted to do.

Okay, let's close. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank You so much, Lord. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You how You show that Paul is a real person. that he had desires just like we do to have things work out for the best, to have things go smoothly, to arrive at certain places and interact with people, but sometimes it doesn't happen that way. It turns out differently. We pray that we learn from this and be at peace about when things don't always go the way we thought they should go. We trust you. We ask this in Christ's name. Amen.